Tar and feather me for the following admission, but I am an ABBA fan from way back. As a result, one of my favourite movies is Mamma Mia. There is one scene in the movie where Meryl Streep’s character says, “Plan. What plan? Goodness knows I have no plan.” I can’t help but feel there is a similarity between that line and retail fresh produce strategy. I don’t mean to be critical of retail. I’ve never been a produce buyer or head of produce, so I am sure there are multiple challenges I am blissfully unaware of. However, one of

If you are a regular follower of this “Persuasive Packaging. Bold Brands.” blog, you will know I am big on learning from grocery. I normally talk about what fresh produce and produce marketers can learn from cereal packaging and branding, but running a close second has got to be the water category. There is some very clever brand work and on-pack messaging being done in energy water. A few weeks ago, I wrote about the water, “function: Urban Detox”, their honed-in target marketing and their very effective on-pack messages. This week, I am writing about…wait for it…“Skinny Water”. In terms

I love meeting people on airplanes. The conversation is always diverse and interesting. On a flight to Melbourne recently, I sat next to a very engaging business woman and we had a great conversation about produce packaging. Even though I consider my packaging thinking cutting edge, I am always open to someone else’s thoughts and opinions. Melissa and I got to talking about cereal marketing (my favourite subject!) and how cereal companies optimise every square millimetre of their packaging with targeted, “buy me” messages that appeal to segmented groups of consumers. We compared this to the fresh produce category, where

One of most cost-effective ways to monitor food trends is to observe what packaged food companies are doing. These companies are usually big, have budgets equal to the GNP of a small African nation and they invest in research. Chances are if a packaged food company is featuring a message theme on their packaging – this is a trend you should be paying attention to. This week, I am loving Wattie’s (New Zealand) “Pick of the Crop” labelling on their canned fruits and vegetables. There are three things we can learn from their packaging. 1. Notice the frequency and prominence